Which one is the best?

Which one is the best?

Whenever someone buys their new console like the PlayStation 4, many are wondering if there’s really a preferred way of positioning the console. Is horizontal, which is the default position, any better than standing it up vertically?

Just like the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3, the recently released PlayStation 4 is designed to go both ways: horizontally and vertically. When it comes to deciding which one is the best, it really all comes down to your personal preference. However, there are pros and cons in each of the position that you need to worry about. The same rule still applies on the positioning just like on other consoles.

*This article is based on our observations.*

Horizontal

Pros:Quiet Disc Drive
Gamers who prefer a quiet disc drive when playing games, placing your PS4 in the horizontal position will give you that. Just think about the laws of gravity when placing the disc. You put less stress to the disc drive when placed horizontally opposed to the vertical position.

Provides More Cooling
Now that every game console produces more heat than previous ones, it’s important for the PS4 to stay cool at all times to prevent the internal parts from frying or melting. If you want your console to get as much air to the inside, putting it horizontally will give the PS4 cool air as both sides of the PS4 have an intake vent.

Cons:Slightly Wobbly
If you decide to put the PS4 in horizontal position, you will notice that it doesn’t that if you push down the side where the Sony logo is, it will slightly wobble. It looks like the side where the Sony logo is placed doesn’t have much of rubber to put it in a stationery position. The wobbly problem isn’t really a big deal, but can get annoying if you have OCD. To fix this problem, simply get a stack of thin paper/index cards/or post it notes and put it under the side where the Sony logo is.

Takes a lot space
The amount of space the PS4 takes when placed horizontally has always been a problem by everyone who doesn’t have a wide entertainment shelf. IF you have small space to put your PS4, your best bet is to really put in a vertical position.

Vertical

Pros:Saves Space
If you don’t have enough space to put your PlayStation 4, putting the console in vertically is something you will need to consider.

Stylish
Putting your PlayStation 4 in a vertical position makes your console look very stylish due to its design. If you want to show off your console to your friends and that led light that lights up when powered on, then put it in vertical position.

Cons:Risk of Tipping Over
One risk that everyone needs to consider when putting your console in vertical position is tipping it down. If you have a dog, cat, or a little kid who loves playing around, there’s a risk that you will tip over the console and break something.

Not as Quiet
When I put my PS4 in a vertical position, I noticed that the console isn’t as quiet as Sony promised it to be. The noise coming out from the console is from the fan that kicks in very hard and the disc drive when reading discs.

Can get very warm
Comparing the temperature from the horizontal and vertical position, I noticed that the vertical position runs a little bit warmer. Remember, when you put the PS4 in a vertical position, you are taking one in-take vent out since you have to put a stand on its side to make your PS4 more secure. When this happens, you are only allowing one in-take vent to get as much cold air from the outside to the inside, making your console run a little warmer. Well, this will result in fans kicking at high speed, making your console run louder.

Costs an additional $20+
Unfortunately, the vertical stand isn’t included on the PlayStation 4 and you have to buy it separately.

[Editor’s Note: The vertical stand of the PlayStation 4 and the console itself was provided to us by Sony to do these tests and observations.]

15 Comments

Paul (Author)

November 17, 2013, 3:24 PM

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Wonder if it will be worth doing a simple home mod of putting small feet onto the corners of the console so that it’s raised off the ground a little, I don’t plan to buy the Sony stand but when there’s a cheap “grey” stand available to buy I might buy one and if I do will possibly look into some kind of mod so that the bottom still has air coming in.

Really dude… ur time can be spent better thinking on better intellectual thoughts than this.

Go figure out how ps4 users can verify their console is not sabotaged.

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Deneteus (Author)

November 17, 2013, 11:07 PM

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The one piece of info you didn’t think about was that making the system vertical causes it to be loud because its closer to your ears and the tabletop masks some of the sound. There will probably be a fan base sometime soon but its just going to cause more dust like it did with the XBOX.

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droozilla (Author)

November 18, 2013, 6:29 AM

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STOP. STANDING. YOUR. SYSTEM. UP.

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Tom (Author)

November 18, 2013, 2:05 PM

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This whole “the PS4 wobbles” thing is over blown bull. The console is designed to be perfectly balanced on the to rubber feet, the console does not move or wobble unless you push on it, and who the heck is going to be doing that? I swear some people…..

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Brian (Author)

November 18, 2013, 2:35 PM

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You need to fix the vertical photo. It’s coming up the wrong way so it looks horizontal. Maybe you need a different photo if that’s the only way it will display. It just looks strange to write about horizontal vs vertical and have both photos look horizontal.

The minute they put the PS4 in an enclosed space, they already lost the accuracy of their testing. You cannot expect the PS4 to be any cooler if you put it in an enclosed space.

Vertical in open space is much cooler… of course it will. It’s in the open space.
Horizontal PS4 in an enclosed space… yes, it will get hot.

Sorry, but we don’t post any articles that are “untested baloney”.

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William (Author)

January 17, 2014, 3:56 PM

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I have put some rubber feet on the side of my PS4 , it help a bunch with the cooling, when i had it on its side without the 4 simple feet it would get fairly loud and hot, but the second I put the small quarter inch rubber feet on it has been much quieter sometimes even more than my brothers, which is on a Sony stand.

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nelly4808 (Author)

March 25, 2014, 10:36 AM

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I have mine on a stand with vent’s in the bottom and it’s sitting on a wall entertainment center with holes in it and it seems to run just as cool as horizontal

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Jojo (Author)

April 5, 2014, 2:51 PM

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This article is incorrect. The official vertical stand has slits and allows air intake.

this article is bullsh1t
The official stand has slits in the twist locks to draw in cooler air built-in, look very closely.
They spent a while designing this.

the stand is weighted and not cheap feeling like your usual nyko/best buy and Walmart garbage

I dunno what this guy tested
my glacier white ps4 I won sounds better than my black old one which has always be horizontal.

if anything the sound youre hearing is just reverberation

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EWWW (Author)

January 10, 2015, 1:14 AM

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So…let me get this straight. You WON a PS4, found an article on the Internet, and immediately call it bullshit because air “slits” were not mentioned? Did I get all that? Did you miss the part about the system and stand being provided by Sony?

I think I’ve got it all figured out. The glacier white system your mother won for eating something like 40 Apple pies in a sitting must be a magic, water cooled, behemoth. Congratulations!

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